Levon Helm 1940 - 2012

Levon Helm passed away yesterday. I'm sure we're all familiar with his work with The Band but he had a helluva body of work in later years as well. I particularly liked him as "Old Man With Radio" in The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada and his later alt.country work.

 Notable lyric in "Poor Old Dirt Farmer":

 "Well the poor old dirt farmer, how bad he must feel
 He fell off his tractor up under the wheel
 And now his head, shaped like a tread
 But he ain't quite dead"

Thanks to dirtfarmermusic.

So long Levon.

Update:

 A very good obituary:

[...] But the through-line to it all is that marvelous voice, an utterly American sound that somehow for five decades embodied the field hollers, Delta blues, minstrel shows, rockabilly, mountain ballads, and country crooners all in one exhilarating package. If you want to hear what American music sounds like at its best, listen to what Levon Helm left behind.

Word.